AG Finally Speaks Up, BSM calls for forgiveness

After six months of agonizing tiptoeing by various parties on the confiscation of BSM bibles by JAIS in January, the matter of national interest has finally come to an end. The general public has said their minds for and against the matter and the Menteri Besar of Selangor defaulted back to the Attorney General for the final decision.

That drew flak from many quarters that MB Khalid is passing the buck but little did they realise is that the matter became a police case based on how JAIS proceeded. Investigation papers (IP) went back and forth from the police to the AG and now the AG has spoken.

On Wednesday, 11 June 2014, the AG came out with a statement that JAIS has erred in their action of confiscating the BSM bibles and that those Malay bibles do not present a national security threat (read here). It appeared that the Home Ministry officials also stated that the bibles did not fall under their purview and was purely a JAIS action. It does cause the appearance that nobody wants this hot potato on their lap and everything bounced back on JAIS.

Malaysia drew a breath of sigh as this fiasco comes to a close. BSM former President Lee Min Choon called for Christians in Malaysia to forgive JAIS for the unfortunate incident and move on (read here). Saying that they were just doing their job and that everybody makes mistakes, his actions certainly trumped JAIS with magnamity and love.

In the JAIS enthusiasm of defending the Islam turf, they have pushed the envelop on their enforcement actions. The matter became way too hot when Sabah and Sarawak leaders, including Ministers, spoke up against the insensitive actions. No federal agencies want to own this and the AG was finally stuck with the matter to come out publicly to declare to proceed with prosecution or to drop all charges.

BSM certainly has the right to pursue a legal path for recourse but it appears that they have indicated for the country to move on. Malaysia will always remember this matter for a long time to come.